One Last Thing
by EccentricallyYours
Summary: When Hermione, Ron and Harry arrive at the Burrow after having visited with the Dursleys, they find Draco Malfoy sitting at the kitchen table, playing a quiet game of chess with Bill Weasley. On HIATUS while I rewrite.
1. Welcome, yet Unwelcome

Title: One Last Thing

Full Summary: When Hermione, Ron and Harry arrive at the Burrow after having visited with the Dursleys, they find Draco Malfoy sitting at the kitchen table, playing a quiet game of chess with Bill Weasley. One week of Dark Arts lessons, an intense study of Occlumency, and quiet a lot of snappy retorts later, Hermione finds herself becoming a spy for the Order alongside Draco Malfoy. "Auntie" Bellatrix, Death Eater parties, and general chaos ensue. Enjoy watching as Draco and Hermoine hate each other, reach an understanding, become comfortable allies, close friends, and then...something more.

Disclaimer: J.K.Rowling owns these kiddies. I'm not making anymoney off of this.

Author's Note: This isn't really important in this chapter, but to add humor to the plot, I'm going to make the Death Eater's a little…deranged, but in a funny way. It isn't how I really think they are, it could sort of be viewed as a parody, and I'm going to do my best not to exaggerate it or anything, but I want it to be there for…comic relief purposes.

You don't have any clue what I'm talking about, though, and won't for another chapter or two. So yeah. Story time has arrived.

**Chapter One**

Hermione Granger was having a shitty day.

She was in the kitchen at the Burrow, listening to Fleur talk animatedly to Mrs. Weasley about the wedding (Mrs. Weasley, who was preoccupied with cutting carrots for dinner, just smiled and nodded randomly), which would happen at the end of the week, contemplating just how her day had gotten so shitty.

At first, one could consider the unexpected figure of one of her least favorite people in the world (Draco Malfoy) sitting at the table playing chess with Bill Weasley a horrible start to the day, but then you find out (via Lupin) that he has already been interrogated while under the influence of Veritaserum, and is genuinely interested in switching sides and becoming a spy for the Order.

Yayyyy. Quite a cause for celebration, actually, even if he still sneers at your filthy-blooded self (while maintaining civil conversation, though, thank Merlin).

But then you get taken aside by Lupin and offered the all-important task of helping Malfoy with being a spy and pretending you want to become a Death Eater (and you can't just REFUSE that opportunity to help with the war). This, of course, will require a week not of the blessed rest and relaxation you had hoped for when you were still planning to go with Harry and Ron to find the remaining horcruxes, but a week full of Darks Arts lessons from Malfoy and training in Occlumency (but by Lupin this time, mercifully) so you can fool both Voldemort AND, terrible task of terrible tasks, Snape.

Add to that the fact that a mere minute ago you were informed by Fleur that since Ginny and Gabrielle are both being bridesmaids that _lucky _you, being the only other female under the age of 25 around, gets to be the Maid of Honor opposite Draco Malfoy, who will be Bill's Best Man, seeing as how he so conveniently isn't one of Bill's brothers (whom he couldn't decide between, of course), and you've got the recipe for a seriously shitty day.

"Granger. We might as well start now, don't you think? Mrs. Weasley said we could use Fred and George's old room as our practice space."

Hermione turned slowly around in her chair to look at the pale, pointed face of one of her (previously) most hated enemies. She sighed audibly, drained the rest of her coffee, and silently followed him up the stairs, cursing the fact that she had turned down Ginny's offer to play Quidditch with her, Ron, Harry and Bill in the orchard until dinner.

As they made their way into the room, Hermione resisted the urge to smile at the absurdity of it all. How had her life gotten so twisted in the short span of one day? Here she was, agreeing to follow Malfoy up the stairs to learn Dark Magic after he had just referred to Mrs. Weasley properly, and not as "that dumpy woman".

Life sure was strange sometimes.

"Okay", he said in a businesslike tone, "first things first. You do realize you're going to have to be branded with the Dark Mark, right? Are you willing to go through with that? Remember, it can never be removed or concealed, and it hurts like fucking hell for about a week, for the record."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat on one of the beds and folded her hands primly in her lap. "I'm quite aware of everything that lies before me, Malfoy, and I'm quite willing to do all of it for the sake of the war. It's a small price to pay for the eradication of almost all evil, in my opinion. But can I ask you something?"

He narrowed his stony grey eyes, but nodded curtly.

"What made you suddenly change your mind and switch over? Why are you agreeing to tutor me? And, most importantly, how did you get past the blood barrier?"

He stared at her for a minute, and she stared back expectantly, not intimidated in the slightest. Her lack of fear and total disregard for subtlety was probably due to the fact that she had slept very little while at the Dursleys (most of her time had been devoted to pouring over books in a vain attempt to uncover the mystery of R.A.B, since there was absolutely nothing better to do) and was very consumed with apathy toward all things at the moment, including a few very well-aimed curses from Draco Malfoy. She wanted nothing more than to roll over and curl up until morning, but time insisted they take advantage of every waking moment possible.

Bloody Voldemort, with his Death Eaters and their Dark Arts, and his great skill at Legilimency. She was so caught up in her own rambling stream of conscience that she had completely forgotten about her questions for Malfoy until he spoke, from by the window, his hands behind his back.

"That, quite frankly, is none of your damn business, mudblood."

She rolled her eyes. Figures he'd only be nice in front of the adults. She was terribly curious, though; however, it was something she could figure out later. Right now, in her state of tiredness, the best she could muster was a yawn-punctured "Go to Hell, Malfoy."

He tutted. "Not like the Virgin Mary to use such foul language, I'm surprised at you, Granger. Clearly having Pothead and Weasel as your only friends has begun to rub off on you."

"What do _you_ know about the Virgin Mary."

He began pacing. "More than you'd think, Granger. My father taught me to 'know your enemy', among other things, which I actually find a very valuable piece of advice, useless and moronic though the muggle world is."

"Muggles aren't the enemy, you idiot."

He surveryed her thoughtfully for a moment before resuming his pacing. "True. You, being brought up in the perfect, light, golden world, Granger, can't imagine how it was for me to see the world I had been brought up in, the world my Father, a man I respected above all others, adored to an obsession, come crashing down around my feet just a few weeks ago. But I'm not about to start pouring my heart out to you, of all filthy, disgusting people, so if you don't mind, I'd like to start out with some basic Dark Magic."

She shrugged her shoulders and slumped back onto one of the pillows. "Corrupt away."

He sneered at her. "What is with you, Granger? Dubious though you may be of the Dark Arts, I'm surprised you haven't wet yourself already in your eagerness to learn something new."

Despite herself, she agreed with him. She was not being her usual self.

"I know. I'm just…tired beyond all reason. Today hasn't been the best of days. I don't think I'll be that useful as a student until after dinner, and a nap." She climbed under the covers. "And I _don't_ wet myself in excitement over learning, you prat. Kindly leave now."

He snorted in disgust, and then turned on his heel without another word, slamming the door behind him. And with weary eyes, she mumbled "good riddance" quietly before immediately drifting off to sleep.

**Author's Note**: I know, that was a lot to throw at you for the first chapter. It was quite short, too, but don't worry, they'll be longer in the future. Hermione wasn't her usual self this chapter, but again, don't worry, I'll do my best next chapter to make every as skeptical and Malfoy-hating as possible. But he's immediately part of the Order, so they can't go on hating him forever…but that doesn't mean they'll all be the best of friends right away either. Ah, I hope I do this well. I hate unbelievable Draco/Hermione stories! I just can't wait to get to the good stuff, you know? Anyway, be nice, and review!


	2. A Reluctant Student

Author's Note: Oh, thanks for all the reviews! I seriously wasn't expecting more than 1 or 2. I've taken all the constructive criticism to heart and have tried my best to do a better job this time around (although I don't think I succeeded all that admirably). And sorry it took so long!

'just a question' - I understand your concern for how them (Draco and Hermione)being involved in the wedding and then taking off the next day to go join the Death Eaters will work out (I myself am worried ifI'll be able to pull it off convincingly or not), but I mean...Lucius Malfoy isn't exactly going to be standing around eating cake and dancing the macarena and then reporting back to Voldemort, is he? (ha, although that would be totally amusing if he were)

**Chapter Two**

Hermione awoke with a start as she heard a loud crack. She blinked, and heard Ginny mumble sleepily "what was that, 'Mione?" She shushed her, reaching around for her wand, when suddenly the whole room was illuminated.

"Harry! Ron! What are you doing?" she exclaimed as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. They both exchanged looks, and then sat down on the edge of her bed. Ginny rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"We were wondering how lessons with Malfoy went. We haven't gotten to talk to you since dinner."

Hermione noticed the concern etched all over their faces and was touched, but rolled her eyes anyway. "And it was absolutely urgent you discuss this with me at two in the morning instead of waiting a few more hours?"

They exchanged sheepish looks. "Well," said Ron, "…yeah."

She snorted. "What do you want to know? It wasn't much of a less, I decided to take a nap after about five minutes. He talked about getting the Dark Mark, I asked him why he switched sides, he called me a mudblood, and I told him I wanted to sleep. That was about it. If you were hoping for a reason to hate him, I'm afraid I haven't got one."

"But he's evil, 'Mione! How can you defend him? He calls you…you know!"

Hermione exchanged exasperated looks with Ginny. They had already talked about it, and though Ginny acted a little like Ron at first, she had finally been convinced by Hermione that although Malfoy was still obnoxious, he wasn't evil.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows darkly. "I'm not entirely convinced he's switched sides, either."

Hermione looked at her two best friends and wondered how she put up with their pig-headedness sometimes.

"You two are being ridiculous. First off, I've gotten used to him calling me a mudblood. I seriously do not care anymore. Second off-" she said loudly, for Ron started to interrupt "he was under the influence of the strongest Veritaserum possible, no one can lie with that, you two are just completely prejudiced. Granted, he's still an arrogant, condescending, annoying ass, but you two are being completely stubborn. Accept it already: Malfoy is on our side."

Harry looked her straight in the eye. "You always defended Snape like that."

"We never gave Snape Veritaserum, either."

There was a stony silence, broken when Ron let out a moan of impatience. "You can't seriously be convinced that he's actually changed his mind about the Dark Arts in just a few days!"

"Yes," she said, a little coldly, "I can." She softened a little, immediately feeling guilty about her tone. They only had a week left with each other before they would all be seperated for...who knew how long. "Please, can you two just go back to sleep?"

Harry sighed heavily. "I guess…I guess you're right, Hermione."

Ron looked shocked, his mouth hanging open, but he said nothing.

"Goodnight Hermione, Ginny." And Harry disapparated. Ron stood there for a moment longer, still looking taken aback, then with a sigh similar to Harry's, he mumbled a goodnight, and disapparated as well.

Hermione looked over at Ginny. Ginny was staring at the ceiling, a rather sad look on her face, but when she felt Hermione's eyes on her she looked over and smiled. "Those two…"

Hermione smiled, extinguishing the light with her wand.

"I know."

"Night 'Mione."

"Goodnight."

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"You have to do it with some _feeling_. You can't expect a curse to work if you yourself are hoping it won't."

It was eleven in the morning, and Hermione and Malfoy had been practicing for three hours. Her hair, which at the beginning had been pulled up into a bun, was now a noticeably disheveled mess. She threw him an icy glare.

"Well, the thing is, I _don't_ want it to."

He crossed his arms impatiently. "Oh, that's a lovely attitude to have when you're going to be facing _Voldemort_ in four days and be asked to perform this on a person."

Hermione felt her whole body cringe at the offhand way he tossed in that she would soon be torturing a living, breathing human being. _Well_, she thought to herself, _this is what I've gotten myself into. This is what it's going to take to win the war. I have to suck it up. After our side is victorious, it will all be worth it._

It had taken Malfoy half and hour to get her to even agree to practicing curses on tea cups transfigured into animals, and he was deeply skeptical of how she would perform when it was necessary. Top in the year she may have been, but she was going to have to be a lot more enthusiastic if they were going to pull this off. She gave him sneers he was almost proud of when he had explained the curses she would be learning that day. He frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Maybe you'll do better if you practice them on me…"

Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Practice them on you! Are you _insane_?"

He glared at her. "It's possible. But this way you'll have that extra hate of me channeling into your power. It will make the curse stronger. You know the counter-curse, and this one isn't all that dangerous."

"Not all that dangerous!" she shrieked. "What exactly do you consider dangerous, then?"

He ignored her and went to stand by the window, 10 feet away from her. "On the count of three-"

"Malfoy-"

"One-"

"I don't think-"

"Two-"

"Well fine, you're asking-"

"Three!"

"_Mugis Dolens_!"

A dark blue light shot out from the tip of her wand and struck him in the middle of his stomach. He immediately doubled over, moaning loudly, clearly in immense pain-

"_Laxo Morsus_," she said almost immediately, but weakly, her face white. Malfoy grimaced, stood up, and surveyed her with piercing gray eyes.

"Not bad for your first try on a person. Helps to have hate, doesn't it? Unfortunately, you won't have any animosity for the people you'll be cursing. But that's not important right now. I'm actually surprised you didn't let me go on for a little while longer…but I suppose you're the virtuous, _noble_ one of the group." He scrunched his nose in distaste. Hermione still was a little shaky from having performed her first bit of dark magic on human, but put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.

"You know, for someone who is on the right side, the _virtuous and noble side_, you certainly don't like its views very much, do you?"

He ignored her again, and they stood in an awkward silence for a moment, until Ginny popped her head in the door, bright red hair a startling contrast to the otherwise drab room.

"Mum says lunch is ready and you two better come down quick before it's all gone." She gave Malfoy a slightly nasty look, then continued on her way down the stairs.

"Unforgivable Curses after lunch, then?"

Hermione groaned, but nodded. _What the hell am I doing_?

**Author's Note: **eh, that was kind of crappy. review anyway, i'll appreciate it, even if you're just telling me how crappy it was.

spoilers for next chapter! expect: Occlumency, overworked! and contemplative!Hermione, and a kiss (but notbetween who you may think...all in good time, my dears!)


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